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This report appeared in yesterday's Observer - page 22.

Little boys have a word for theirs. Now Swedish girls do too....

It begins: I only ever speak English to our three-year-old daughter, and my wife only speaks Swedish to her. The one exception is the word snippa. It’s Swedish for a girl’s genitals, the female equivalent of snopp, meaning “willy”, and I can’t find an English word that does the job.

What is the equivalent English word?

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    Come on, you should know translation requests aren't on-topic unless you define the word in a lot of detail. And if you want a single-word-request, then you need to explain how the English word will be used. -1
    – curiousdannii
    Aug 3, 2015 at 9:01
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    It shouldn't be necessary to refer to an external site. And while the Guardian-Observer's website may not disappear, they could easily change their URL schema. Please edit in enough detail to make the question stand alone (just the "dry yourself" portion is probably enough to satisfy @curiousdannii's comment too).
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Aug 3, 2015 at 9:05
  • Can you give more details about the nuances of the word you are seeking? Diminutive, child-talk, euphemism sure. But is it a silly word or a misdirection. Is it old-fashioned or new? (I am not BrE but) What's wrong with 'tuppence'? 'fanny'? 'coochie'?
    – Mitch
    Jan 26, 2017 at 13:53
  • @Mitch I've never personally heard of the first or last ones. The middle one, in Britain, is considered downright obscene, and no parents are going to teach that to their little one. Interestingly, regarding tuppence, whist I've never heard that, I have heard of ha'penny (half penny), as in keep your hand on your ha'penny - though it is very dated now - possibly pre-WW2.
    – WS2
    Jan 26, 2017 at 18:50
  • @WS2 My only evidence for tuppence is ... from ELU but people seem to say it is out of date. So you're not that old after all!
    – Mitch
    Jan 26, 2017 at 18:59

3 Answers 3

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I think the first thing to say is that an answer to this question will be influenced by geographical location.

US and UK English culture for example are often different with regard to this type of nomenclature as are different areas and subcultures within those countries.

I made a google search for polite words for vagina and found this British discussion that may be of interest. Clearly no-one has yet come up with a definitive answer.

'noonie' is one that I have heard.

from Mumsnet:

http://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/children-parenting-190/toddlers-pre-schoolers-12-months-4-years-59/964262-nice-names-vagina-all.html

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    Why search for polite names for 'vagina' rather than 'vulva'?
    – Spagirl
    Jan 26, 2017 at 11:48
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'lulu'

is sometimes used as a euphemism for a girl's genitals.

text describing lulu and honolulu penny

'Honolulu penny', a reference to a particular British coinage of the 1800's whose picture could be interpreted lewdly,

seated woman holding trident that by coincidence seems to come out of her lap

is a similar sounding term; it is unclear which came first, Honolulu shortened to lulu or lulu hidden within or rhyming with existing term 'Honoulu'.

'lulu' or 'loo loo' seem to have many other current slang uses and may well be out of date. But phonetically it sounds like many other childish euphemisms.

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  • I have awarded an upvote for the picture etc, though I did provide you with the starter for this idea. One thing I feel sure about is that this has no connection whatever with loo meaning "toilet". That has an entirely different etymology.
    – WS2
    Jan 27, 2017 at 23:04
  • It is also important to point out that the "honolulu pennies" were quite rare - at least by the time I was at school in the 1950s. On most pennies at that time Britannia had her trident resting "on her knee" - thus if one saw one of the kind above it was deemed "on her lulu" hence "honolulu".
    – WS2
    Aug 6, 2021 at 13:16
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Now in America this means butt but in other regions fanny is a synonym. One I have heard in America quite a bit has been vajayjay. Also kitty, flower, and peach.

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  • None of those is the kind of word a three-year-old would use to describe their genitals.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Aug 3, 2015 at 22:44
  • You evidently know very different children than I, however that doesn't mean it isn't so.
    – Yeshe
    Aug 3, 2015 at 22:48
  • But they are hardly words that a polite middle-class parent would encourage their three-year-old to use, are they?
    – WS2
    Aug 4, 2015 at 6:54

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